Mdkn
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Downgrading from Mavericks to Mountain Lion WITHOUT time machine backup from Mountain Lion.

Hello. I'm one of the unlucky owners of Macbook Retina 15" Mid 2012. I was very satisfied with this computer, everything was great, untill I installed OS X Mavericks. My computer started to have GPU Panics all the time under some "heavier" usage like watching long videos on YouTube. I googled this problem and then I saw that I wasn't the only one, many people had problems after upgrading to Mavericks. I also read that downgrading to Mountain Lion solves the problem, but after the Internet Recovery update, when you are restoring your mac, it restores as Mavericks. I read Apple instruction how to revert os x, but it requires Time Machine backup from Mountain Lion, I already downloaded ML Installer from AppStore but I don't know how to install it.

 

Greetings,

Mdkn

Posted on Jun 21, 2014 3:50 PM

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Mdkn

Q: Downgrading from Mavericks to Mountain Lion WITHOUT time machine backup from Mountain Lion.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jun 21, 2014 4:01 PM in response to Mdkn
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 21, 2014 4:01 PM in response to Mdkn

    If you have a Mountain Lion installer application then you can downgrade, but you will have to erase the drive. You should try backing up your Home folder in advance so you could at least restore your data. You will need to reinstall any third-party applications.

     

    Make Your Own Mavericks, Mountain/Lion Installer

     

    1. After downloading the installer you must first save the Install Mac OS X application. After the installer downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.

      

       2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:

     

    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    2. After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the leftside list. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
    3. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list.
    4. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.

     

                3. Use DiskMaker X to put your installer clone onto the USB flash drive.

     

    Wait for the process to complete which will take quite some time.


    Use your new installer flash drive to boot the computer. Boot by doing:


    Boot Using OPTION key:

     

      1. Restart the computer.

      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

          "OPTION" key.

      3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.

      4. Select the disk icon for the USB flash drive.

      5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.

     

    Partition and Format the hard drive:

     

     

    1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
    2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
    4. Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.

     

    You will need an active Internet connection.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jun 21, 2014 4:01 PM in response to Mdkn
    Level 9 (50,854 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2014 4:01 PM in response to Mdkn

    You have to boot into Internet Recovery and completely erase and repartition your hard drive, then install the OS that shipped on it. You can then upgrade to Mountain Lion using the installer you downloaded.

     

    If your Mac shipped with an installer disk, you’d have to use that to re-install the base OS.

     

    If you want to save your data, clone your drive (or just copy the data) to an external hard drive. You can’t use Time Machine.